Paris 2024 basketball: U.S. women reach final after dominant win over Australia
Basketball
Using fastbreaks and the transition game, the United States upended Australia 85-64 in the first women’s basketball semi-final at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. With the win, the US will head to the gold medal game where they will face the winner of Belgium vs. France, being played later on 9 August. Australia will play the beaten semi-finalists for the bronze medal.
“I think we continue to play unselfish basketball," Team USA’s Breanna Stewart said after the game to NBC. "We’re moving the ball, we’re finding the best shot. Really, starting with our defense and scoring as much as we can in transition.
"Knowing that we have depth that nobody else does in this tournament, and making sure that we got where we wanted to be. Now we have one more game to get the gold medal."
Jackie Young again started, signaling that the United States would be focused on defense in the game, and that defense was effective. They held Australia’s shooting to 36 per cent, and they often turned that defense into offense. The US had 26 points in fastbreaks, and 44 points in the paint.
Young finished with 14 points and two steals. Stewart had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, while A’ja Wilson had 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in just 20:51 on the court. The big lead for the US meant that Wilson and Stewart didn’t have to play as many minutes in the semi-final with the gold medal game on Sunday.
Australia’s bench was active and a big help in the game, scoring 41 of the team’s 64 points. One of the few times they were in the game was in the first quarter. Basketball legend Lauren Jackson checked in and took pressure off Australia’s bigs and give the team more of a shot at scoring. But with Australia shooting just 36 percent, it wasn’t enough.
It was the 60th straight win for the US team at the Olympics. They are one step closer to winning the country’s eighth-straight Olympic gold medal, and 10th overall.
“It's absolutely incredible, and I don’t even think I can put it into words what we’ve done with USA Basketball, with this national team. 60 straight wins. This is the standard," Stewart said. "I knew when I first put that USA jersey on. I knew it was gold, really, or bust. Making sure that every time on the court, off the court, the way we prepare ourselves, we’re trying to be the best that we can be and continue to reach new heights."